Nahe Riesling

A couple of years ago I had good luck opening a 2004 Hexamer Riesling Quarzit from the Nahe region of Germany.  At six years out from vintage it was delicious.  I pressed my luck and did the same thing a couple of days ago, opening a Quarzit six years out from vintage.  This time it was a 2006.  Dinner was a pan roasted chicken breast with a chicken stock based sauce that also contained lemon grass, fish sauce, a scant drop of toasted sesame oil and a few shakes of hot sauce.  Also on the plate were some steamed brocollini and a mixture of fresh beans.

I'm currently finishing a new book on German wines (more about that later) and one suggestion in the book I found more than interesting.  The suggestion came from Joh. Jos. Prum and the suggestion was to decant a young (under ten years old) Riesling for an hour, but to keep the decanter cool.    We did this with the Quarzit.  An immediate glass was fruity with limes and lemons and apples.  It was fresh and tart.  The wine did show some aging because the fruit was more mature and riper tasting than in younger Rieslings.

After an hour, and with dinner the fruit had faded to a supporting role and the minerality in the wine was the star.  Dry rocks, slate, and that unique smell of cool rain falling on warm limestone rocks in the summer.  There was some sweetness to the wine and that gave this bottle a great mouth filling feeling.  The minerality and the acidity then kicked in  and the wine became totally refreshing.  I liked the decanted profile much better then the straight from the bottle profile.

The Asian flavors in the chicken sauce were wonderful with this wine. 

2006 Hexamer, Riesling, Meddersheimer Rheingrafenberg Quarzit.  10% alcohol and $18 at issue.